


Bring me back (Home)

by MassiveSpaceWren



Category: Captain America (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Comics), Iron Man Noir, Marvel Noir
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Can be read as gen, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gen or Pre-Slash, Iron Man Noir AU, M/M, Memory Issues, Memory Loss, Mostly Gen, noir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 12:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14790255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MassiveSpaceWren/pseuds/MassiveSpaceWren
Summary: Tony couldn’t quite shake the feeling of being watched. The streets were empty, but the hairs on the back of his neck kept tingling. Every now and then, he could see a shadow pass over the gap of a building, or hear steps from above.Whoever was up there was clearly after him and, if his experiences with this sort of thing so far were anything to go on, it probably wasn’t for a friendly chat.





	Bring me back (Home)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [a_salty_alto](https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_salty_alto/gifts).



Tony pulled the scarf around his neck closer, shivering in the cold night’s air. It had cooled down somewhat after a warm day, but Tony still wasn’t in a hurry. A late night stroll through New York City to clear his head was exactly what he needed.

He walked through the less glamorous streets, hoping that no one would recognize him here, where no one would expect a famous adventurer or millionaire to be. Most people he passed seemed occupied with their own lives, anyway.

Even with fewer people around, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling of being watched. The streets were empty, but the hairs on the back of his neck kept tingling. Every now and then, he could see a shadow pass over the gap of a building, or hear steps from above.

Tony tried to keep his breathing calm. Whoever was up there was clearly after him and, if his experiences with this sort of thing so far were anything to go on, it probably wasn’t for a friendly chat. Keeping his head straight, Tony looked around, searching for a place to hide and surprise his attacker, or to get away quickly enough. He still couldn’t let his stalker know that he was preparing.

Damn him for not bringing a gun.

The knife in his boot was a reassuring weight against his leg, but that alone would hardly be enough.

Tony ducked around the a corner, sprinted toward a small alley and jumped over a fence around the next corner. He didn’t quite dare to run toward the more crowded parts of the city, there was no way he could pull civilians into this. Whatever _this_ was.

These maneuvers were usually enough to let him escape, especially in a city he knew so well.

 

~~~

 

_Seven months ago_

 

Tony jumped into a small side street, ducking down behind the shrubbery. He was breathing heavily and his heart was beating too fast. He needed to stop, to catch his breath, or this would be the end of him.

He’d been running for longer than he’d anticipated. It was quite a way from out of the cave he’d been exploring, into the tiny village which was the only cover anywhere nearby. He’d passed a few buildings, most of them were empty. The small streets should have hidden him from his tail, or so he had thought, but he could always see the shadow following him. Maybe this was enough. He dug through his pockets to sent a signal to Jarvis, hoping they would find him. If he couldn’t escape he needed the armor, or at least more firepower than his small revolver could provide.

There was no sound to be heard except for his breathing.

Then, the same steps as before. Tony squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, cursing internally. How could that bastard still have found him?!

Tony ran, again. He knew he’d have to find a way out, and soon. This couldn’t go on for much longer.

The sound of motors cut through the night, still silent and distant, but Tony would recognize them anywhere. He had built them, after all. Jarvis was on the airship, coming to get him out.

If he survived long enough.

It was tempting to run toward the sound, but that was what his stalker would be expecting, so he took a moment to catch his breath, until he heard the steps again, and ran into a different street. He dashed around a corner again as soon as he saw the person was following him.

The seconds dragged on, but every second out of his attacker’s grasp was a good thing.

Finally, Tony could see the airship nearby and shot a flare up to the sky before starting to run again. With a loud bang, a bullet dug itself into the wall where he had been standing a moment ago. Tony fired a few shots back, then zigzagged down the next street before getting a wall between himself and his attacker.

A tall, abandoned building nearby would do. He broke open the door and slipped through. Barely standing any more, Tony gathered the last of his strength to run up the stairs, trying to get high enough to be seen by Jarvis.

He crashed through the door to the roof when the airship was about to pass above him. He lit a flare, this time in his hand, and started waving frantically. The rope ladder hanging out of the airship was lowered more.

Tony ran along with the speeding airship, before jumping on to the ladder. He clutched it tightly, struggling to put his feet on the rung, when gunfire echoed below him.

His leg exploded in pain and his foot slipped off the ladder. With no strength left to climb, Tony was quite literally left hanging, swinging wildly over the city they were veering away from.

The airship was climbing steadily, soon too far off for more shots.

Slowly, Tony was pulled up into the safety of the cabin.

He wasn’t sure he’d ever faced that kind of foe before.

 

~~~

 

_Now_

 

After hiding out in a dark corner next to the garbage cans, Tony could hear his stalker again.

There seemed to be no escaping it, not with the city full of civilians.

Tony pulled the knife from his boot, ready to fight. He may be just a human with a heart condition, but he had still faced the worst kind of enemies and lived to tell the tale. His publishing history was proof.

Running on, he searched for a place to face his stalker.

It couldn’t be that bad, right? He’d even somehow survived super humans and mechanical contraptions, sometimes both in one.

 

~~~

 

_Four months ago_

 

The armor moved like a dream, following his every move. The problem was more the man opposing him.

He was clad in dark leather and wearing a mask over his face. After his handgun hadn‘t done anything to Tony’s armor, the attacker switched to a bigger gun and a closer range.

The bang of the rifle was loud, and the impact on the helmet made Tony sway.

With a hit of his armored fist, he managed to knock the rifle from the other man‘s hand, and took a moment to break it. Before he could even orient himself again, his attacker was jumping on to the suit, a knife in his hand. Tony barely got a hand on the attacker‘s arm before the knife was rammed into the gap between his helmet and the breastplate. With great effort, he pulled the arm away and dislodged the man again. The knife clattered to the floor a few paces away.

Tony was ready to just subdue his unarmed foe, when the man ran toward him again, armed with nothing but his fists. The left arm glinted weirdly in the fading light.

The punch was unnaturally strong, denting the breastplate where it hit. Tony coughed at the impact. He could barely see the metallic glint of the left arm as the attacker pulled back again to land another punch.

Screw subduing and questioning.

Tony took a few steps and jumped, firing off the rockets to fly. He kicked out hard, forcing the other man dodge, and bought enough time to gain some height.

Tony had no time to look back as he sped away.

 

~~~

 

_Now_

 

Tony let his stalker come closer. There was no use in pretending that he didn‘t hear him coming.

“So, you seem to know New York like the back of your hand, to follow me here,” he said, his voice echoing against the walls, hopefully masking his exact location. “’You here for an autograph?”

The stalker was silent for a moment, before answering in a gruff, deep voice.

“I‘ve been sent to take you to our supreme leader. I will follow this order. For the glory of Hydra.”

So, no chance this was a friendly encounter after all. Tony‘s grip tightened around the knife.

The man almost reached his hiding place. Tony darted out, knife raised for an attack. He stabbed at the other‘s arm, but his knife screeched over some kind of armored plating.

Tony dropped low to dodge the man‘s fist. He went for his legs, but the other man was quick, and sidestepped the maneuver.

Tony jumped back to catch his breath.

“Nice moves. Who taught you? Army? Wehrmacht? Special Ops?” Tony’s half hearted attempts at distraction only made his attacker stop for a second, then move in again.

Tony tried to block the punch, but barely hit the armored part of the man’s arm again before he was disarmed. The knife’s dull clang as it hit the floor the only indication where it could have landed.

As he stumbled back, Tony caught a glimpse of the mask and the sliced left sleeve. The man didn’t wear armor, his whole left arm was made of metal.

Tony gasped. “No… Not you, again… That’s not possible.”

 

~~~

 

_Three weeks ago_

 

Tony raced down the street, the wheels on his suit screeching at a turn, coming to an abrupt halt in front of a group of children with their supervisor.

Opposite of them was the man he’d seen before, the man with the metal arm, who had dented the armor with a punch. He was coming closer, slowly but surely, and raising the rifle in his hands. Tony shivered inside the armor, and tried to swallow down his fear.

He knew what he was getting into.

Not waiting for the other man to make the first move, he fired a few shots at him. The man with the metal arm dodged easily and came toward them.

Tony rammed into him with the armor while shouting for the civilians to run.

The rifle fell to the ground and Tony kicked it away a few paces. He tried to press the man down, but the grip of his metal arm was strong enough to bend the armor plates and slowly push Tony away so the man could free himself. An attack from this close could probably break the armor. With a last burst of strength, Tony hauled the man off of him.

He turned, and saw that one child was hiding, probably frozen with fear. The rest of the group was nowhere to be seen. Speeding toward the kid, Tony sorted through his priorities. Getting the child to safety was more important than apprehending the man with the metal arm. He lifted the child easily, and turned away from a hail of bullets, shielding the kid with his armor.

The other man was walking towards them again, reloading his rifle.

This was the only chance.

Tony sprang into action, driving toward the man again as if to ram into him, while keeping the child safely hidden in his arms. He veered out of the way at the last second. Turning, he fired at the man’s legs, watching as the bullets ripped into his right thigh, shattering the bone.

He wouldn’t be able to follow them.

 

~~~

 

_Now_

 

Tony took a steadying breath. Running was out of the question. His chances of winning a fight against this man without his armor were basically zero. This man had almost punched through the armor, Tony didn’t want to find out how it felt to have him punch through his torso.

Which, in this case, was probably the best case scenario. He’d rather die than have Hydra catch him.

So, Tony did the one thing left to do: attacking the man with the metal arm outright.

His first punch was caught easily. He ripped his arm back, trying to offset his opponent’s center of gravity, but it wasn’t enough to topple them. His attempt to get his knee up for a kick was thwarted easily, his opponent’s block left his thigh numbing.

A hard shove made Tony lose his footing and, the next thing he knew, the man with the metal arm was kneeling above him and his back was in pain from where he’d hit the floor.

“Are you gonna get revenge for the bullets I put in you the last time?” Tony choked out.

The man hesitated, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. Then he glared at Tony.

“What are you talking about?! I’ve never met you before.”

Tony choked out a laugh.

“I’d call getting your thigh shredded pretty memorable.”

The man was still kneeling above him, but now was pressing a hand to his forehead.

“Or it wasn’t you after all,” Tony started. “It makes sense. This would be an impossibly quick recovery from such a wound… How many assassins with metal arms does Hydra have!?”

Holding his head as if in pain, the other man swayed.

“The arm… there is only me… I’ve never been here. But why are these streets so familiar...”

The heavy weight left Tony’s body as the man listed to the side and fell to the floor. This was confusing, but Tony wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass. He slowly started to crawl away, but a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him down again.

“You will not flee. I must fulfill my mission. I must not fail.”

Tony was beginning to suspect more and more that this wasn’t your typical assassin.

“What happens if you fail?”

The man was clutching at his head and curling in on himself, clearly in pain.

“The cold… and then nothingness,” he mumbled to himself.

Tony swallowed heavily. Was this man also just a prisoner of his enemies?

“Look, I won’t hurt you,” Tony started, trying to keep his voice soothing but serious. “I know we fought before, but this can end now.”

“No!” The man growledat him, but instead of lashing out, he sunk further into himself, shivering. “It hurts worse when I remember,” he whispered.

Tony slowly sat up, careful not to make any sudden movements. Could he get away, or would it be worth to try and free this man? He could still easily kill Tony accidentally in his confusion.

Clawing at his head, the man groaned. “I know these streets. I… I _have_ been here before.” He wasn’t really talking to Tony, more to himself, as if to reassure himself of what he figured out.

“I was playing with friends here… No. I was here to kill an ambassador. Why don’t I remember anything but that moment? How did I get there?” His eyes looked frantic as they snapped from left to right while he was processing his thoughts. Then, he zeroed in on Tony.

“You. I know you.”

Tony held up his hands in a placating movement. “Like I said, we’ve met before. They sent you after me before. But I can help you. I can stop them from hurting you.”

The man narrowed his eyes and looked at Tony with an intense gaze. “You… fight hydra.” He slowly reached out with a hand as if to make sure Tony was real.

Tony nodded. He stretched his own hand toward the man invitingly.

The fingers which Tony had seen handle weapons with brutal casualness softly brushed over Tony’s hand. His eyes looked almost hopeful.

Intertwining their fingers, Tony gave the hand in his a reassuring squeeze. They sat for a while, just breathing.

Tony reached out with his other hand, trying to calm the man further. He lowered his voice. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”

The man shot up into a standing position, toppling Tony to the floor. Tony’s arms went up to protect himself. Shit. This was not a position he wanted to defend himself in.

The man just stumbled back, though.

“There is no home for me anymore,” he choked out.

Moments later he had vanished into the night.

 

~~~

 

_16 months later_

 

Tony stood on the mountain ridge. Below him was a big outpost, hidden in a small valley. This far out of the way, even he hadn’t thought to look.

The convoy entering left no doubt though, this was one of Hydra’s main bases. A cold wind let Tony shiver and he tightened the warm jacket he was wearing.

The slow steps walking up to him were familiar. Tony waited, still observing their enemies.

Bucky came to a stop next to him, decked out in protective leather, the terrifying mask fastened in place.

“Ready to take them down, finally?” Tony reached out with his hand without taking his eyes off the base. Cold fingers intertwined with his own and squeezed carefully.

Tony finally looked at Bucky’s face. His eyes were determined, but he couldn’t deny the soft fondness they held when looking at Tony.

“Yes. Let’s end this. And then… go home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I love Iron Man Noir and was SOOO happy when I got a prompt for it! I simply had to write a little thing. 
> 
> This was the prompt:  
> “Noir AU: HYDRA wants to capture Tony Stark and turn him into the next Zemo, and to that end dispatches the Winter Soldier to bring him in. They have many encounters, until one day Bucky starts breaking free of his programming a little.”
> 
> Constructive criticism is always appreciated!
> 
> I headcanoned that after the war, the Nazi faction still existing went underground and rebranded itself as Hydra.
> 
> And a HUGE thank you to Shi_Toyu, who betaed this!!


End file.
